soonercub

I have been reading a lot of information on the draft and it seems people have the Cubs favoring Starling, A. Bradley, Gray, Springer or Lindor and possibly Mahtook. As of right now I am leaning toward A.Bradley. Seems the Cubs really don't have a potential #1 starter in the organization right now. I am getting kinda scared of the Starling pick. His price tag will be very high and his hit tool is to questionable. We also seem to have several CF prospects in the minors right now. I sure wish this was like other drafts and you could trade down and pick up some extra picks. I really like the Josh Bell kid. Everything screams middle of the order bat that switch hits. Not a great athlete, but probably no worse than Chili Davis. Our system seems bare of corner outfielders that can flat out hit and do so with power. I have seen comps of Starling=Drew Stubbs, but Starling with a little higher ceiling. Bell=Heyward, Heyward with a higher ceiling, but Bell can do it from both sides of the plate. Bell has also done all the travel circuits and his bat plays well against high level pitching. Starling is kinda unknown. What are some of your thoughts?

Notsosober, It is blackedout in okc on espn, but the St. Louis feed is on cox 715.

I seem to recall him doing well in Spring training.

It appears Baseball America has an article on him as well. I don't have membership so I can not summarize it at all. If anyone else does please share. I also notice a while back that BA did a right up of Darvill and Geiger. Anyone know anything about that article?

Sounds weird to hear this guy needs more playing time because he is a good walker. One thing I like about Quade is so far he seems to play match ups well. I imagine if they are going against a righty that is tough on right handed hitters then we will see Colvin in for Soriano so he can get 2 lefties in the lineup. I get the impression that the pitching match-ups will determine the outfield with Quade. Unless someone is on fire and you got to ride those hot streaks.

With this move seems like the positions players are set on the 25 man roster. I think Max is back up 1b and reserve catcher. Maybe someone might battle Barney for backup SS-2nd. What do you think? Any more moves you expect?

Some nice video of him. One nice play as a first baseman in a spring training game. http://boston.redsox.mlb.com/search/media.jsp?player_id=445615 I like what he considers 175 pounds! I feel lighter already.

Yep, who was the stud closer we gave up for Greg?

Another thing I like about Garza (just watched his highlights on MLB.tv. He has playoff experience. Some big keys to the season. 1. Which Z will we get? Hopefully the end of 2010 version. 2. Can Ramirez stay healthy and have at least one of his average years. 3. Can Colvin sustain the power and improve discipline. 4. Can Kerry stay healthy. 5. Can Cashner start effectively. I think Castro's defense will improve. Pena will rebound and at least be as effective as DLee last year. Marmol will be Marmol (the right handed version of Mitch Williams). Byrd and Soto should be steady and consistent. Soriano should be able to reproduce last year and then we have one less year of him!

We always hear people complain that we don't trade our prospects when their perceived value is at its highest. Archer and Guyer's stock isn't going to get any higher unless they are tearing it up at the major league level. They were both the Cubs minor league players of the year and had really nice years. Probably years that both will not be able to repeat this year. I wonder if they plan on moving either Gorz or Wells soon? I think Detroit still wants to add a starter and they have been rumored for Gorz.

I like the move! The only prospect I don't like giving up is Archer. He has the potential to be a Garza type. But you never know, Rich Hill was suppose to be a Zito (when he was good) people didn't want to put Pie in the Roberts trade because he was going to be an All-Star. So you do have to give up some talent to get talent. So the the long end of it DeRosa for Garza. Plus we still have some other real nice arms in the system that should be ready when Demp and Z come off the books. Lee is a nice talent, but the Cubs have their SS of the present and future. Plus I think a future up the middle combo of Castro and LeMahieu is better offensively then Lee and Castro. To me Lee is a faster version of Barney with a stronger arm. Not going to wow you with the bat. Guyer is blocked for the next few years and they have Jackson rated higher so I don't mind that move. Chirinois is older than Castillo, so we traded from a strength. I expect the other player coming back to the Cubs to be along the lines of a young Archer type. Hendry seems to always insist on a young power arm in return. See Archer, Lopez the kid we got from San Diego in the Walker deal and traded to Florida.

Put me in the corner of not impressed with Diamond or Coleman's stuff. Potential bullpen candidates. Someone please show Castillo how to give signs!!! Putting fingers to low and letting everyone in park know what is coming!

Thanks Jersey!

I saw an article on Espn that featured a look at the system. If anyone can post some info on this article or any others you can find. Thanks http://insider.espn.go.com/mlb/insider/news/story?id=5454462&addata=2009_insdr_mod_mlb_xxx_xxx&action=login&appRedirect=http%3a%2f%2finsider.espn.go.com%2fmlb%2finsider%2fnews%2fstory%3fid%3d5454462%26addata%3d2009_insdr_mod_mlb_xxx_xxx

If B. Jackson is the centerfielder of the future then why has he been playing leftfield so much? Anyone know if he is nursing an injury? Is Campano another Fuld?

Why all the knit picking on Colvin? The kids is having a real nice year. Will he ever be the perfect hitter? Hell no, the closest thing we have to that right now is Pujols. But the kid has really started to evolve into a better hitter. He had surgery a couple years ago and last off season was the first time he got to really go hard at weight training and you can see the dramatic effects. He has also re-worked his swing dramatically. Look at some video when he came up last year. At that time he was in a very pronounced crouch. This year he is much more upright and using his body more to his advantage. Also, his bat path is very similar to Gary Sheffield. He is able to keep the bat in the ball plane for a very long time. If you notice how low his hands are towards the end of his swing. This is really helping him put more backspin on balls and staying away from top spin. Maybe that is a factor in him having a higher rate of fly balls leaving the yard. Maybe it is not luck, maybe it is because he is swinging really well now. Can he maintain it? I sure hope so! It is fun to watch. Here is some 2010 video, notice how his hands finish below his right shoulder. That is very hard to do. http://chicago.cubs.mlb.com/team/player.jsp?player_id=502125 Here is some video of 2009, notice he has to come out of his crouch which would probably lead to putting more top spin and less backspin on the ball. http://mlb.mlb.com/video/play.jsp?content_id=6770005 Just my 2cents.

Cubs sign another Korean pitcher. This one for 1.2 million. Korea could be the new Dominican Republic. Let's hope so for the Cubs sake. http://koreabaseball.blogspot.com/2010/02/cubs-ink-another-korean-prospect.html

Good post, I liked reviewing the older Hanley scouting report. Obviously Castro has some great tools, but you can't predict how he will develop physically. I noticed in that report Hanley was listed at 6'1" and 170 pounds. On the Marlins site he is now listed at 6'3" and 225 pounds. Castro should get bigger and stronger, but you never know how big and strong that will be. I doubt Hanley would be putting up his recent power numbers if he was 6'1" and 190 pounds. I do like what I have heard of Castro and his work ethic. So I do think he will be a player that gets the most out of his physical tools, but those tools might or might not change from what they are now.

Here is a little WGN video. Sorry, I am not sure how to imbed the video so I will just post a link. If someone else knows how to do that than please do. Thanks. http://www.wgntv.com/sports/

I always love to look at pics from Spring training and seeing some video of the players working out. It would be cool to have a thread to link pictures and video from the 2010 Spring training. I found these pics on a site I like to frequent during Spring time. http://www.boysofspring.com/journal/journal.php Please post other pics, video and links to whatever you can find of the 2010 Cubs Spring training.

In the outfield: I hope both Jackson and Burke can build on last year. I like the Jackson-Edmonds comparison. I am trying to think about a Burke comparison. A young Jeremy Burnitz (not the Cub Burnitz) might be reasonable. In the infield: I hope Castro and Vitters can keep it up as they climb up. I hope Vitters can really become a good defensive player. I would like to see Flaherty keep his power, but increase his average and just the opposite for LeMahieu. Would love to see Lee keep it up at the next level. Pitching: Like to see J. Jackson keep it up at the higher levels and that Cashner can continue to develop into a starter. I hope Carpenter stays healthy and builds on last year. I hope some of the young lefty's emerge.

My Cubs All-prospect team. 1. Lee-CF-L 2. Castro-SS-R 3. Jackson-LF-L 4. Vitters-1B-R 5. Burke-RF-L 6. LeMahieu-2B-R 7. Flaherty-3B-L 8. Castillo/Chironos-C-R/L Bench: Barney-inf-R Watkins-inf-L Colvin-OF-L Guyer-OF-R Rotation: Cashner-R Jackson-R Rhee-R Coleman-R Raley-L Pen: Cales-R Guab-L Huseby-R Parker-R Carpenter-R Antigue-L Dolis-R If Cashner can't make it as a starter you can flip him with Carpenter or Antigue. Great top of the order speed and bat handling. Good R/L balance. Potential for some middle and bottom of the order pop.

Caught a little blurb on Minorleaguebaseball.com about Brad Snyder. I remember him getting off to a great start last year at Iowa before getting hurt. Not as hot as Fox, but not far behind. Looks like he had a nice Winter league. Could he be the Cubs 4th or 5th outfielder this year? Seems to have a bigger bat that Fuld and enough speed to steal a few bases. http://mlb.mlb.com/milb/stats/stats.jsp?pos=&sid=l132&t=p_pbp&pid=430957

If the deal includes Morrow, I would be pretty pleased. It obviously has to have cash coming back to the Cubs. Maybe it needs Selig's approval for cash considerations before it is done.

knowing that their probably isn't enough money to add a big time free agent. I would be content adding Cameron and trying to trade Bradley for some pitching help.